title: Adaptive comanagement of a marine protected area network in Fiji.
abstract: Adaptive management of natural resources is an iterative process of decision making whereby management strategies are progressively changed or adjusted in response to new information. Despite an increasing focus on the need for adaptive conservation strategies, there remain few applied examples. We describe the 9-year process of adaptive comanagement of a marine protected area network in Kubulau District, Fiji. In 2011, a review of protected area boundaries and management rules was motivated by the need to enhance management effectiveness and the desire to improve resilience to climate change. Through a series of consultations, with the Wildlife Conservation Society providing scientific input to community decision making, the network of marine protected areas was reconfigured so as to maximize resilience and compliance. Factors identified as contributing to this outcome include well-defined resource-access rights; community respect for a flexible system of customary governance; long-term commitment and presence of comanagement partners; supportive policy environment for comanagement; synthesis of traditional management approaches with systematic monitoring; and district-wide coordination, which provided a broader spatial context for adaptive-management decision making. Co-Manejo Adaptativo de una Red de Áreas Marinas Protegidas en Fiyi.
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Society Fiji Country Program, 11 Ma'afu Street, Suva, Fiji; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weeks
authors.forename: Stacy D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Jupiter
mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000502:physiology; D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D003657:Decision Making; D005367:Fiji; D005843:Geography; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Fiji; Fiyi; adaptive management; arrecifes de coral; community-based conservation; conservación basada en la comunidad; conservation planning; coral reefs; customary management; manejo adaptativo; manejo común; marine protected areas; planificación de la conservación; resilience; resistencia; áreas marinas protegidas